1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to marine vehicles, and more particularly, to a personal underwater vehicle designed to tow a diver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several designs for personal underwater vehicles have been designed in the past. None of them, however includes, among other features, a dual, counter rotating motor that pulls from near the center of mass while towing a diver from behind the center of mass and an adjustable ballast system and propeller-wash avoidance features combined into a sleek self-contained long range capable device.
Applicant believes that the closest reference corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,938 issued to Cameron. However, it differs from the present invention because the Cameron device requires the operator of the device to grasp the device near the center of thrust, requires two-handed operation and requires the operator to expose their face, and necessarily their face mask, to the full force of the hydrodynamic water resistance during travel.
Furthermore, the present device includes features including an electronic display, accessory mounting rack, integrated light and is balanced to tow more than one person.
Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.